Bahamian Marine Protected Area Ecosystems: Building a Case for Network Expansion

The following article underlines that identifying the economic value of preserving the environment and marine ecosystems will help people become more willing to help protect and expand protected areas in The Bahamas. In the article, the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF)—a Bahamian non-profit foundation—asks readers to sign the petition on their site to help builds a case for network expansion.

[. . .] The report “Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Bahamian Marine Protected Areas” was commissioned by Bahamas Protected, a three-year initiative to manage and expand marine protected areas in the country that is in an effort to safeguard the economic value of marine ecosystems.

The more than 6 billion dollar value includes not only national benefits from these areas that provide nursery habitat for the spiny lobster fishery, protect shorelines from storm damage, and support tourism, but also benefits to the international community such as the carbon…